35 day dry age of whole rib eye

[DivotMaker]

That's the spirit, Walt!  And, Jim - you can easily sneak 2-3 peeks per day with no adverse effects.

 

[Walt]

4 week update.  See new pictures & note in original text.  Getting close!

 

[DivotMaker]

I just drooled on my keyboard.  I can taste the anticipation!! ;D ;D

 

[DivotMaker]

By the way, I'm proud of you, buddy Walt!  I could not have made it this long!  21 days and I would have been grilling!

 

[Walt]

There is a visible difference between 3 & 4 weeks.  I can only assume it will translate to taste.  Maybe the trick is to cut it in half (or buy 2 if feasable) & pull 1 @ 21 days & the next @ 35. Just sayin.......

 

[DivotMaker]

It should, Walt, but I don't know for sure....you in uncharted water.

 

[Walt]

Its been a week, Jim.  I would expect you should have received your kit by now.  Time to start the 50 day ageing.  Or 28!

 

[DivotMaker]

Its been a week, Jim.  I would expect you should have received your kit by now.  Time to start the 50 day ageing.  Or 28!

50 day??  You're trying to make my head explode, Walt! Hahahaha!!

 

[mnsmoker]

My kit has been here for a week now just haven't had the time to get started hopefully this weekend!!!!!

 

[Walt]

Tomorrow is day 35.  The plan is to cook steaks on Thursday, day 37.  I will remove the rind & vacpac individual steaks Thursday.  Will report back soon.

 

[DivotMaker]

Yippie!  It's finally here!  Hat's off to you, Walt, you did it! 8)

 

[Walt]

Going to be cutting the rind off and cooking later today.  Been looking @ a few video's in preparation for doing this and learned something.  Initially i vacuum sealed and helped manually massage the air out.  This gave a pretty good seal but not quite as strong as I would have liked.  It is a huge piece of meat and a very large bag.  I have seen a couple of examples where right before the vacuum sealer is about to seal, the user stops & restarts the process.  This allowed for a much tighter initial seal.  Also, some recommend putting inside a panty hose for the 1st 4 to 5 days to assist in the initial bond.  However, no more than 5 days so the hose won't bond to the dry bag.  I'm not sure if it will really matter much because the meat looks great, even with only 70-80% adhesion. 

I will take a few pictures of the process during the trimming.  7 mouths to feed for the birthday festivities.  Can't wait!

 

[DivotMaker]

Any update yet, Walt?? You know I'm dying to know how they turned out!

 

[Walt]

The ribeye was a complete success.  The taste was superb.  I seasoned with olive oil, salt, pepper & granulated garlic & cooked on the grill wide open.  Pulled the steaks @ 128 & let rest for 15 minutes.  They came out a perfect medium rare with a nice hard sear.  I cut the steaks about 1.25 to 1.5" thick.  A good sharp knife made trimming the rind fairly easy with minimal loss.  The piece originally was 16.7 lbs & lost a total of 2.3lbs from evaporation finishing up @ 14.4lbs prior to trimming.  Finished up after trimming @ 13.6lbs with 12 steaks.  We ate 5 between the 7 of us.  My tablet seems to have died so I will have to figure out how to post pictures another way.  Will update soon.

 

[DivotMaker]

That's fantastic, Walt!  I can't wait to see the pictures (just can't get enough of them  ).  The taste is incredible, huh?  Great job!

 

[Walt]

Attached are the final pictures.  Sorry for the picture quality.  Took them with my phone.  I did cut the tails off after that last shot.  The meaty shavings left in the bowl were cut into very small pieces.  I then bagged up small portions for dog treats.  5 bags of these in the freezer & 1 in the fridge.

 

[Walt]

Any ideas or suggestions for the trimmings?  The huge hunks of fat are left from the tails.  I was wondering if it could all be ground together & used like ground meat / sausage or cooked down (skimmed & strained) into a beef broth.  If not, the dogs are sure enjoying it.  I get this strange feeling I may be neglecting something that could be seriously tasty.....the shavings look like really nice beef jerky.

 

[DivotMaker]

I can definitely see a difference in the 21-day and 37-day.  The main thing I see is the depth of the browning in the fat.  At 21-days, I didn't have to remove as much fat.  Btw, I trimmed the big hunk of fat at the tails (less flareup when cooking).  It would be interesting to taste the difference in the two.

 

[Walt]

Since your offering, send me one of yours & I'll let you know.  I cut the fat from the tails right after that photo & the weight loss numbers include removal for the trimming.

 

[DivotMaker]

I would if I had any left, Walt!   I think I'm going to get another one started this weekend (actually, Monday, when my new bags arrive).  We might have to work out a swap!